Dr Hannah Wheat

Expertise

Realist evaluation, dementia, complex health interventions, qualitative methods (including conversation analysis), primary care.

Biography

As part of her  dementia fellowship Hannah is leading the realist case study evaluation for the Dementia PersonAlised Care Team) D-PACT project. The D-PACT intervention involves ongoing support, for both people with dementia and carers, from a dementia support worker who is embedded within primary care. The support is delivered through a person-centred coaching approach – focusing on what matters most to the individuals who are receiving the support. Within the longitudinal, mixed methods evaluation, we are applying innovative realist approaches to how we analyse qualitative and quantitative data, demonstrate impact and value and in how we design and deliver ongoing support to the practitioners delivering the intervention.

Hannah is also working with the ENLIVEN project which is working with small businesses to make the wellbeing benefits of outdoor activity more accessible to older people with cognitive impairments, for example memory problems due to dementia or a stroke. My role within this project is to support qualitative components of the project.

In the future, Hannah is keen to develop a grant focusing on how various workforce models, within Primary Care Networks, can influence i), what care is provided for people with dementia, ii) how that care is delivered and iii), the type of support practitioners providing dementia care, within these models, need and receive. She is also keen to use evidence-based learning to adapt the D-PACT model, so that it can be used to enhance the care and support for people with dementia and  carers from underserved communities.